Defence Firm Qinetiq Cutting More Than 325 Jobs

Defence firm Qinetiq has recently confirmed, it is in talks with the union, Prospect, to cut 325 more jobs. The company employs more than 6000 people in the UK alone. The reduction overall is due to a “challenging business environment ” which hundreds of companies have already fallen prey to. An unpleasant reminder that the economy is still very much in a recovery mode. A recovery which is believed to continue through the rest of 2010.

The breakdown in numbers for the reduction of staff look like this:

Boscombe Down – 135

Farnborough, Hampshire – 130

Malvern, Worcestershire – 230

About 30 more employees spread over its UK operations will also be let go .

National Secretary David Luxton said: “Qinetiq now has a quarter of its 6000 employees ‘at risk’ of redundancy over the coming months, which is both alarming and distressing for over 1500 highly skilled scientists, engineers and project managers working at the cutting edge of defence technology and future capabilities for the armed forces.

“The scale of the redundancies, which are attributable to Ministry of Defence spending cuts, sharply exposes the vulnerability of private sector jobs to expenditure cuts.”

Qinetiq said: “We will work with employees and their representatives to carry out the process in a fair and supportive way.”

Its chief executive Leo Quinn said: “In today’s challenging business environment we need to ensure that Qinetiq is focused on its strengths and is fully aligned with the needs of its customers.

“Whilst we must reset our cost base in line with demand, we will continue to maintain a full capability for our customers through our unique understanding of the global aerospace, defence and security markets.”

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